Portraying a Classic Character

The same arguments went round following The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. This failed to prevent it from becoming a best-seller (on the NYTimes list for most of a year).

ViridianChick said:

I'm not sure I follow you. How can something be a reinterpretation but not fanfiction? If I wrote a reinterpretation of Harry Potter as a boy who imagines he's a wizard to escape the drudgery of everyday life, that would be fanfiction.

The only reinterpretation I wouldn't call fanfiction is satire.

Click to expand...

That simply isn't the definition of fanfiction that I know. The definition I found included...

Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published.

So I guess the definition of fanfiction has broadened to include ANY writing that is derivative or a re-interpretation? Whether or not (or how) it has been published?

It would prob. be news to some writers that what they are writing is fanfiction, but definitions change.

Is Anne Rice a fanfiction writer? Writing about vampires? How inclusive and broad does the definition get? Is the play, 'Wicked' another example of fanfiction? The several new books out which feature Jane Austen as a character, or which re-imagine her characters in new stories/novels?

I just never realized the scope of the definition and how all-inclusive it is.

While not exactly the same situation, I do write two characters that are my interpretations of the Greek deities Zeus and Persephone. While there is a lot of "canon" there as well, what I did to develop the characters was take notes on as much of the mythos as I could find, and then figure out where I was able to "fill in the blanks" from there.

I think the important thing is to keep to canon as much as possible--so no direct contradictions to canon content--and then highly develop any blank spaces you have in their character outline to make the character yours. Does that make sense? Totally avoid contradictions to original character, but develop their personality and interest as you see fit.

Then there is also the time factor--if time has passed between the canon content and your story, you can throw in events that allow for slight personality shifts. Obviously, with modern-day Greek deities, there's a lot more time for me to work with. But I guess it would depend on the context of your story and all.

/don't know if I'm making sense I'm sorry

jaksen said:

That simply isn't the definition of fanfiction that I know. The definition I found included...

Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published.

So I guess the definition of fanfiction has broadened to include ANY writing that is derivative or a re-interpretation? Whether or not (or how) it has been published?

Click to expand...

I think we've gotten a little off-track. This is not at all what I said, and I've never heard anyone claim that before. Fanfiction is using another person's characters and/or worldbuilding. Obviously there's some gray area in that--I wouldn't call retelling a myth fanfiction.

And I imagine a lot of people would be surprised to learn they're writing fanfiction. Like the original poster of this thread. And Orson Scott Card, who wrote The Originist in 1989 and said "the time to write fanfiction is never" in 2004.

That being said, I'm not passing judgment on fanfiction. I'm just saying that just because something is publishable does not mean it's original fiction.

I call Wide Sargasso Sea fanfiction - just because the source material is out of copyright, and just because it's published, that doesn't mean it's not fanfiction IMO.

But I never saw fanfiction as a perjorative term either. I think the 'fan' part merely means 'author has a healthy respect and admiration for the source material, so much that they want to write about it.'

That would seem to apply to the OP.

Mostly that depends if it's 1) well-written, and 2) sufficiently true to the characters (IMO that is what makes or breaks fanfic). Which at least your first-three-lines achieved very well.

I tend to regard anything derived from the public domain as not-fanfic anyway, even tho I suppose technically it is.

And don't feel bad; a lot of writers (published and not) have written fanfic, including yours truly.

inkblots said:

I guess it depends on everyone's definition of fanfiction and their view of: Is Fanfiction Literature? I guess I've always felt fanfiction is a hobby where people can extend a world they love, but not something publishable. I've always imagined a retelling of a classic tale like retelling P&P in Bridget Jone's Diary wouldn't fall under fanfiction because Pride & Predjudice is now in the public domain.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that Bridget Jones's Diary is not fanfiction because Pride and Prejudice is in the public domain. I'd say that it's not fanfiction because they're barely related.

Sorry this has gotten off-track. I think when you take a classic character and use them in a novel, you have to think mainly about how other fans have used that character and what the fanbase is going to want, as well as who you're writing it for.

If you want to please people who enjoy Sherlock Holmes as a character, then you need to leave the elements people like about him intact. Some changes you can get away with (like how some people write him as asexual, and others write him as being attracted to Irene Alder).

I wrote fanfiction as a teenager and recently went back to write one last fic for an author I adore. I wouldn't say it's at all lesser or bad. It just requires a different skillset, and there's a different set of expectations in place. Like, here, how the OP has to pay attention to what other people will think of his/her changes.

I have read Wide Sargasso Sea and the Jane Fairfax book. Liked Sea, didn't like the Fairfax book. It didn't really tell us anything Austen hadn't, plus it perpetuated Emma's mistake in presenting Mr Dixon as Jane's admirer. But I wouldn't read a Sherlock book simply because I'm not a fan.

Whether or not a book is fanfiction is probably beside the point. Is it a book I want to read? that's the question.

Fans of Sherlock however have very strong opinions, I believe.

I'll echo everyone else: mess too much with the characters that Doyle created, and you will not have happy people on your hands.

I will say this: Andrew Lane is already doing something extremely similar, and he has express permission from the Conan Doyle Estate to do this: http://www.conandoyleestate.co.uk/index.php/young-sherlock-holmes-andrew-lane/ Obviously, there are many other books out there that did not have the permission of the Estate. I'm not sure if Laurie R. King did or not, but I adore her novels. However, her books take place long after Doyle's stories ended.

Here's the Amazon search results for Sherlock Holmes Jack the Ripper. Consider searching for young Sherlock Holmes and teen Sherlock Holmes too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref...ch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0